alter

See also: Alter, älter, and alter-

Contents

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

• altre (obsolete)

EtymologyEdit

From Old French alterer (French altérer), from Medieval Latin alterare (“to make other”), from Latin alter (“the other”), from al- (seen in alius (“other”), alienus (“of another”), etc.; see alias, alien, etc.) + compar. suffix -ter.

PronunciationEdit

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːl.tə/, /ˈɒl.tə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔl.tɚ/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.tɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːltə(ɹ)
• Homophone: altar
• Hyphenation: al‧ter

VerbEdit

alter (third-person singular simple present alters, present participle altering, simple past and past participle altered)

1. (transitive) To change the form or structure of.
   • Bible, Psalms lxxxix. 34

     My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

   • Shakespeare

     No power in Venice can alter a decree.

   • Alexander Pope

     It gilds all objects, but it alters none.

2. (intransitive) To become different.
3. (transitive) To tailor clothes to make them fit.
4. (transitive) To castrate, neuter or spay (a dog or other animal).
5. (transitive, obsolete) To agitate; to affect mentally.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Derived termsEdit

Derived terms

• alterability
• alterable
• alterably

• alterative
• alterer

Related termsEdit

• alteration
• alternate
• alternative

TranslationsEdit

to change the form or structure of

• Arabic: غَيَّرَ‏‎ (ḡayyara)
• Asturian: alteriar, alterar
• Bulgarian: променям (bg) (proménjam), изменям (bg) (izménjam)
• Catalan: alterar (ca)
• Galician: alterar (gl)
• German: abändern (de)
• Ido: alterar (io)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} cambiare (it)
• Japanese: 変える (ja) (かえる, kaeru), 変更する (ja) (へんこうする, henkō suru), 直す (ja) (なおす, naosu)
• Korean: 변경하다 (ko) (byeon-gyeonghada), 바꾸다 (ko) (bakkuda), 개조하다 (gaejohada), 달라지다 (ko) (dallajida), 변경되다 (ko) (byeon-gyeongdoeda), 고치다 (ko) (gochida), 거세하다 (geosehada)
• Maori: panoni, whakarerekē
• Old English: ^{(please verify)} wendan

• Oriya: ବଦଳାଇବା (bôdôḷaiba)
• Polish: zmieniać (pl), zmienić (pl), przerabiać, przerobić (pl)
• Portuguese: alterar (pt), mudar (pt), modificar (pt)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} modifica (ro), ^{(please verify)} schimba (ro), ^{(please verify)} altera (ro), ^{(please verify)} altul (ro)
• Russian: изменя́ть (ru) impf (izmenjátʹ), измени́ть (ru) pf (izmenítʹ), меня́ть (ru) impf (menjátʹ), поменя́ть (ru) pf (pomenjátʹ), переде́лывать (ru) impf (peredélyvatʹ), переде́лать (ru) pf (peredélatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: mùth
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: изменити, променити

  Latin: izmeniti (sh), promeniti (sh)

• Spanish: alterar (es), cambiar (es), modificar (es)
• Swedish: modifiera (sv), förändra (sv), ändra (sv)
• Ukrainian: змінювати impf (zminjuvaty), змінити pf (zminyty)

Further readingEdit

• alter in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• alter in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

AnagramsEdit

• Alert, alert, altre, artel, later, ratel, taler

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DanishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Norse altari, from Old Saxon altari, from Latin altare (“altar”), cognates with Icelandic altari.

NounEdit

alter n (singular definite altret or alteret, plural indefinite altre)

1. altar

InflectionEdit

Declension of alter

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	alter	altret alteret	altre	altrene
genitive	alters	altrets alterets	altres	altrenes

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GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔaltɐ/

AdjectiveEdit

alter

1. inflected form of alt

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LatinEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂élteros (“the other of two”) (akin to English other). Akin to alius. Confer with ulter.

PronunciationEdit

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ter/, [ˈaɫ.tɛr]

AdjectiveEdit

alter (feminine altera, neuter alterum); first/second declension

1. the other, the second
2. the one...the other (alter...alter)

InflectionEdit

First/second declension, nominative masculine singular in -er, with genitive singular in -īus and dative singular in -ī.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
nominative	alter	altera	alterum		alterī	alterae	altera
genitive	alterīus				alterōrum	alterārum	alterōrum
dative	alterī				alterīs
accusative	alterum	alteram	alterum		alterōs	alterās	altera
ablative	alterō	alterā	alterō		alterīs
vocative	alter	altera	alterum		alterī	alterae	altera

Derived termsEdit

• adulter
• altercor
• alterō
• alteruter

DescendantsEdit

• Aragonese: atro
• Aromanian: altu
• Asturian: otru
• Catalan altre
• Dalmatian: jultro
• Franco-Provençal: ôtro
• French: autre, autrui
• Friulian: altri
• Galician: outro

• Italian: altro
• Norman: âote
• Ladin: auter
• Occitan: autre
• Portuguese: outro
• Romanian: alt
• Romansch: auter
• Sardinian: àteru

• Sicilian: àutru
• Spanish: otro
• Venetian: altro, antro
• Walloon: ôte

ReferencesEdit

• alter in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• alter in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “alter” in Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • one or two days: unus et alter dies
    
  • one, two, several days had passed, intervened: dies unus, alter, plures intercesserant
    

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Norwegian BokmålEdit

Etymology 1Edit

NounEdit

alter n (definite singular alteret / altret, indefinite plural alter / altere / altre, definite plural altera / altra / altrene)

1. an altar

Etymology 2Edit

NounEdit

alter m

1. indefinite plural of alt

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Norwegian NynorskEdit

Alternative formsEdit

• altar

NounEdit

alter n (definite singular alteret, indefinite plural alter, definite plural altera)

1. an altar